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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Reflections on Weeds and Flowers for Outdoor Wednesday

Our home is built into a hillside that's a few degrees shy of being a cliff. The views are wonderful, even those beneath my feet. I'm standing on a host of weeds, some of them quite beautiful, whose names I've come to know thanks to a Master Gardener ™ program.

A significant portion of that program involves the identification and eradication of weeds. Its goal is to produce a trained corp of volunteers who will extend sustainable gardening techniques to others in the community. Classes, taught by faculty and industry professionals, are sponsored by the Extension Service of many state universities. At the end of the 12 week training period, now certified students become volunteers and start a year of pay-back that can range from teaching to weeding and time on the Extension Service hot-line. They know a lot about weeds, believe me. Some from the gardener's catechism, "A weed is a flower that grows where it's not wanted." Some from long hours spent in gardens of their own.

My musings today weigh how much flowers are like people. Some bloom only in the soil where they were first sown. Others thrive when taken on the wind and dropped on foreign lands. The flowers beneath my feet, while tended, are not deliberate plantings. The bluebells in the woods came from an English forest floor and the poppies, breath-taking in their profusion, came from California and managed to find the only patch of sunshine on our hillside. Nature, its design and vagueries, never ceases to amaze me. I've chosen to contain, rather than eradicate, these flowers others call weeds. They are simply too beautiful to destroy.

I came to your blog via Cookie Madness. I'm a Penn State Master Gardener. Ours is a 14 week program which is run like a college semester covering different topics every week. We have a high retention rate of MGs in our counties thanks to a highly motivated Extension educator. I've found I'm really interested in turf and unfortunately now I've learned the names of all the weeds that grow in turf. But, I've also learned all the specific pesticides to deal with them. :-)

Your weeds are beautiful. I love flowers (or beautiful weeds) but never can remember their names. Thanks for sharing your fabulous photos. And thanks for visiting my blog & leaving me a comment. It really means a lot to me.

I just wanted to welcome all newcomers to my blog. I hope you'll become regular visitors. I was thrilled to see so many of you have completed MG training. I did mine at Oregon State University in 2001.

I think I must not be a weed since I bloom best where I was sewn. Not very original of me but there it is. As such, however, I love that you have not eradicated my beloved California Poppy that used to bloom so profusely on the hillsides here that they took on an orange tint. Now, sadly, they have been picked, built on and otherwise eliminated to where they aren't as plentiful as in my youth. Thank you for sharing such wonderful knowledge with us today. No wonder sometimes these "weeds" are just called "wildflowers." They bloom wherever they land!

BTW, you're right, the fountain in AZ does look like a wedding cake! Good eye! Thanks for stopping by today!

Hi,This is my first time on your blog. I enjoyed your metaphor of people being like flowers and your food pictures are beautiful and very tempting. Thanks for visiting my blog and your nice comments. Have a wonderful day!

I think about the analogy of people and plants a lot. Gardening, in a lot of ways, is a metaphor.

I was just thinking the other day that I wish I knew what all the weeds were. I want to know if any can be of use, medicinally or for eating. I would love to take that course. Maybe when my youngest goes to school I will check into it.

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